obit – Page 4

Lewis “Lew” Lukens, professor emeritus of molecular biology and biochemistry, passed away on Sept. 8 at the age of 91. Lukens received his BA from Harvard University and his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. He came to Wesleyan in 1966, first in the Biology Department and then as one of the founding members of the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, where he remained until his retirement in 1999. Lukens' research involved the regulation of gene expression by eukaryotic cells, specifically the genes for Type I and Type II collagen. He received many research grants from the National Institutes…

Peter Kilby, professor of economics, emeritus, died Aug. 2, 2018, at the age of 83. Kilby received his BA from Harvard University, his MA from Johns Hopkins University, and his DPhil from the University of Oxford. He worked with USAID as an Industrial Economist in Nigeria for two years before arriving at Wesleyan in 1965. He was an economist whose work focused on economic development, particularly in Africa. Over his career, Kilby held appointments as a Fulbright Fellow, a Ford Foundation Foreign Area Fellow, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and a Guggenheim Fellow. He was a Senior Advisor of the ILO…

David Schorr, professor of art, died on June 16 at the age of 71. Schorr was born and raised in Chicago. He received his BA from Brown University and his BFA and MFA from Yale University. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1971, and for the past 47 years he taught a wide range of courses including printmaking, drawing, typography, book design, graphic design, and calligraphy. He received the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2015. Schorr’s career as an artist and designer was as broad ranging as his teaching. He designed many posters and books, provided illustrations for numerous books…

President Emeritus Douglas J. Bennet ’59, P’87, ’94, Hon.’94 passed away on June 10 at the age of 79. "He believed that Wesleyan gave him so much, and he gave back unstintingly with deep affection," wrote Wesleyan President Michael Roth '78 in a campus email. Bennet served 12 years as president, retiring in 2007. He oversaw the rejuvenation of the heart of the campus—from Memorial Chapel to Usdan University Center and Fayerweather—as well as the addition of the Freeman Athletic Center and the Film Studies Center. Bennet set an ambitious strategic direction for Wesleyan with two planning initiatives, the first of…

Peter Frenzel, Marcus L. Taft Professor of German Studies, Emeritus, passed away on Sunday, May 20, 2018, at the age of 82. Frenzel arrived at Wesleyan in 1966 after receiving his BA from Yale, MA from Middlebury, and PhD from the University of Michigan. He retired in 2003. During his 37 years at Wesleyan, Frenzel served on virtually every major committee, including advisory and educational policy, and he served in a number of administrative roles, including associate provost, dean of arts and humanities, chair of German studies, director of the Wesleyan Program in Germany, and as the Commencement Marshal. In his retirement,…

Professor Emeritus of History Donald Meyer passed away on May 27 at the age of 94. Meyer received his BA from the University of Chicago in 1947 after taking a three-year hiatus to serve in the United States Army (1943–1946), and then went on to complete his MA and PhD from Harvard University. He taught at Harvard for two years and UCLA for twelve years before arriving at Wesleyan in 1967. Meyer was a social and intellectual historian who published three books and numerous articles over a long and productive career. According to colleague Nat Greene, “He was an expert in offering a vigorous…

Basil John Moore, professor emeritus of economics, passed away on March 8 at the age of 84. Moore, who received his BA from the University of Toronto and his PhD from Johns Hopkins University, came to Wesleyan in 1958. He retired in 2003 after 45 years of scholarship that took him to Cambridge, Stanford, Morocco, Vancouver, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Korea, India, and Stellenbosch, South Africa. (more…)

Robert Rosenbaum, University Professor of Mathematics and the Sciences, Emeritus, died on Dec. 3 at the age of 102. Rosenbaum received his AB from Yale in 1936, and his PhD in mathematics from Yale in 1947. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1953 and taught mathematics here for 42 years until he retired in 1995. He was a member of the “Mystic Nine” — a group of faculty in the early 1960s who were instrumental in developing Wesleyan’s graduate programs. He became dean of sciences in 1963, provost in 1965, the first-ever vice president of academic affairs and provost in 1967, and chancellor…

Richard Wilbur, eminent poet and former professor of English, died Oct. 14 at the age of 96. Wilbur joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1957 and taught here until 1977. During his two decades at Wesleyan, he received the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for Things of This World (1956), was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and founded the renowned Wesleyan University Press poetry series. Over his long and distinguished career as a poet and translator, he was appointed as national poet laureate, received two Pulitzer Prizes, a National Medal of the Arts, two…

Kit Reed died on Sunday, Sept. 24, in Los Angeles, Calif., at the age of 85. After several post-college years as an award-winning journalist, Kit Reed moved to Middletown in 1960 when her husband, Joe Reed, took a position with Wesleyan’s English Department. Kit Reed became a visiting professor of English in 1974, an adjunct professor of English in 1987, and resident writer in 2008. A former Guggenheim fellow, Reed was the first American recipient of an international literary grant from the Abraham Woursell Foundation. Her work has been nominated for the Locus Award, the Campbell Award, the World Fantasy…

Fred E. J. Linton, professor of mathematics, emeritus, died Sept. 2 at the age of 79. Linton was born in Italy to parents who were escaping to the United States from Hitler’s Germany. He studied mathematics at Yale and received his PhD from Columbia, then came directly to Wesleyan as an assistant professor in 1963. He became a full professor in 1972 and continued to teach mathematics here until his retirement in 2006, after a total of 43 years at Wesleyan. Linton supervised seven PhD students at Wesleyan, including one of the first Wesleyan doctoral students. Linton was a highly…

Richard Winslow, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, Emeritus, died July 24, 2017 at the age of 99. A service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1 at the Antrim Baptist Church, 85 Main St. in Antrim, N.H. All are welcome. Winslow received his BA in English from Wesleyan with the Class of 1940, and his BS and MS from the Julliard School. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1949 and taught music here for 34 years until he retired in 1983. During this time, he advocated for and oversaw the establishment of Wesleyan’s renowned program in…

Lukens Remembered for Cofounding the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

Kilby Remembered for His Dedication to the College of Social Studies

Professor Schorr Remembered for Creating Art That Addressed Comedy, Tragic Loss, Nostalgia

Bennet ’59, P’87, ’94, Hon. ’94 Remembered for Accomplishments as Wesleyan’s President

Frenzel Remembered for Scholarship on Medieval Music, German Culture

Meyer Remembered for Shaping Curriculum in History Department

Moore Remembered for Contributions to Monetary Economics

PIMMS Founder Rosenbaum Dies at the Age of 102

Wilbur Remembered for Founding Wes Press’s Poetry Series

Resident Writer Reed Remembered for being a Fierce Advocate for Students, Fiction

Linton Remembered for Teaching Mathematics at Wesleyan for 43 Years

Winslow Remembered for Establishing World Music Program